CINCINNATI – Andy Dalton sounded like someone who’d heard enough. Since January, his critics have not been subtle. Earlier this week, Dalton reacted by ripping them — “They want to find ways to tear me down,” he said — and by praising himself.

“They don’t look at all the stuff that I’ve accomplished,” Dalton decided. “I’m one of three quarterbacks in the history of the league to do certain things. I’m very confident in what I’ve done.”

Dalton’s tart reaction was understandable, even justified. His statistics are good and getting better.

The self admiration?

We recall Dalton’s words after the Bengals most recent playoff loss, to San Diego in January, a game in which Dalton was dreadful. That day, the “We’s” held court.

We made too many mistakes.

We need to do better as a team.

It doesn’t work that way if you are a quarterback. You deflect praise and accept criticism. When things fail spectacularly, as they did against the Chargers — and in other big moments during the previous three seasons — you climb the podium and say: “This one’s on me.”

Whether it’s true or not isn’t the point. Being the quarterback and acting like it, that is the point. Quarterbacks make a lot of money. It’s not just because they throw tight spirals.

Leadership is the great intangible in sports. Nowhere is it more important or more obvious than at quarterback. We’ve been spoiled here. We watched Kenny Anderson and Boomer Esiason. Anderson remains revered by his former teammates for his dignity and humility. In his day, Esiason owned one of the best huddle presences in football.

There are certain, physical aspects of Dalton’s game that will not change: arm strength and mobility. He is, as he allows and most of us agree, pretty darned good.

He’s also proven adept at reading coverages, and he showed in 2013 he didn’t have to force-feed A.J. Green to be successful. But to get to where he wants to be — and where his team needs him to be — Dalton needs to be more of a leader, the guy who stands at the podium and assumes the blame.

The player who has one postseason touchdown pass and six interceptions in three losses needs to realize he’s going to be hammered for that. He can tell his critics to kiss his aspirations. He also needs to say: “This team depends on my ability to play well in big situations. I didn’t get it done.”

I wince whenever I hear head coach Marvin Lewis or offensive coordinator Hue Jackson say the team needs to “help” Dalton. The fact is, the Bengals have put a good offensive team around their quarterback. His stats aren’t all because of his arm.

How many teams drool about an offense with Green, Gio Bernard, Marvin Jones and two big, pass-catching tight ends?

Dalton was the starting quarterback as soon as he walked through the door. The team has fortified its offense on his behalf. After three full seasons and 51 games, it’s time for Dalton to “help” his team as much as it has helped him.

Dalton will shut up the critics when he starts to win highlight games. Until then, he might want to accept the hard knocks even if he dislikes them. That’s part of being a quarterback.